10/11/2024
🫣 Brand new spokesperson? Chosen to represent your brand at any one of the conferences that are being crammed in before the end of the year? Seen a colleague talk to a journalist without having an inkling of their reporting style?
How did that work out for them?
Probably a little of 😨, maybe some 🤢, and definitely 🤦🏼♀️. If you're not sure whether to put on a suit of armor...or have a cache of puns at the ready, this one is ✨ just for you ✨
Reading previous stories a journalist or reporter has written, or listening to podcast episodes that are already posted, can tell you a few important things:
1) How do they stylistically handle interviews? Do they give their guests plenty of time to answer or do they frequently interrupt?
2) Are their questions very targeted or are they more open-ended? Ironically, the less-specific questions often can be more challenging to answer.
3) Is their tone easy going and hospitable or more intense and aggressive?
4) Is there a topic of conversation that captures their imagination to the point where they find a way to work it into every interview? For instance, perhaps they’re fascinated by AI, and they seem to always incorporate a question on that subject. You can rest assured they’ll do the same with you.
Doing a little advance research to create your own scouting report on your interviewer can help eliminate unwelcome surprises.
